Guilty plea expected in murder conspiracy

A man who was allegedly recruited by an old friend to assist in the murder of his estranged wife’s boyfriend is expected to plead guilty to a lesser charge.

Jason Cameron Lawrence, 43, is charged with murder conspiracy, after becoming involved with his friend Vincenzo Sirianni’s plot against his wife.

Lawyer Shamsher Kothari told court on Thursday he and Crown prosecutor Shane Parker have discussed the resolution of the charge against Lawrence, and set the Feb. 12 date to do so.

“We anticipate on resolving this on another offence that is agreeable to go ahead in provincial court,” said Kothari. “I anticipate entering pleas and resolving it all that day.”

Outside court, both lawyers said Lawrence is expected to admit to conspiracy to kidnap.

According to court records, Sirianni, 43, allegedly went to his wife Rita Sirianni’s workplace on May 2, 2013 to discuss the divorce papers she had served on him. He was wearing one side of a handcuff on his wrist with the other side open, and he possessed an airsoft handgun.

When Sirianni tried to handcuff his wife, she screamed and three co-workers rushed to the scene and restrained him until police arrived. He was charged with attempted kidnapping and three weapons charges, then released on May 21.

A restraining order was in place against Sirianni, barring him from having any contact with or coming near Rita Sirianni. The couple, married in 1994, had four children together, but had been separated for a couple of years before the May 2 incident.

While at Calgary Remand Centre, Sirianni allegedly spoke to his cellmate and reunited with Lawrence, his old school friend, between June 5 and June 12 to talk about putting surveillance on his wife’s boyfriend Kevin Stoklosa and killing him and dumping his body near Banff.

Lawrence and his girlfriend Tammy Charlene Earl, 40, who visited him at remand, allegedly both agreed to assist Sirianni in the plot and were both charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Parker said Sirianni was far ahead in the murder plan, with a tracking device placed on Stoklosa’s vehicle, money withdrawn to pay co-conspirators $1,000 each and a kidnap-kill kit in his vehicle.

Sirianni pleaded guilty through lawyer Adriano Iovinelli in October in Queen’s Bench to the kidnapping and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Lawrence, meanwhile, had been in jail on two charges of theft and one count of possession of stolen property when he was recruited by Sirianni.

He was previously in the justice system on very serious charges.

Lawrence was sentenced on Nov. 8, 2002, to six years in prison for the vicious aggravated assault on his then-girlfriend’s 20-month-old daughter during a fit of rage the previous December.

The judge cited Lawrence’s long criminal history, which dated back to 1988 and included four prior assaults, as an aggravating factor.